The other day at work, I was fleshing out some 'surprise' (in other words: kind of un-scoped) details of a feature my team is launching next release.

I can't go into detail, but to set the scene, this 'surprise' work entailed a data migration.

The decisions to be made were mostly technical in nature.

There were a couple of important product decisions, mainly having to do with how the data would be exposed to customers.

This migration work needed to start soon. Like, maybe today. As a product manager, I didn't have a whole lot of time to get a consolidated opinion among my team, mull it over, and spec out the complete list of risks, etc. that I normally would with a long-term feature.

Sometimes, as software product managers, we do not have the luxury of time to make decisions.

There are cases where, as software product managers, we just have to make the best decision with the information we have at the time. This is not always ideal, but it is the reality of working in a real-life, functioning software product team.

Product Popcorn

A zealous product manager endeavors to fix everything.

For me, being a product manager doesn't stop on the weekends. When I'm out and about doing everyday things, I am still thinking about end-to-end user experience, and why things were built the way they were.

I also think about the way things are going to be in the (near) future. And how we can make everything better.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog and on the podcast are mine alone, and are not necessarily those of my employer. This blog expresses my opinions on product management, and are for informational and entertainment purposes only.The only exception are my views and opinions on red pandas, which are clearly correct and true for everyone :-)